Mini Chicken Cigars with Sweet and Sour Pineapple Dipping Sauce is a tasty and easy appetizer recipe. Entertain in style and impress your guests at your next party with these quick and cute mini bites. #BHGParty
Who wants to party? It is the last week of school here and so we are ready to party!! There is something about the summer that makes me want to entertain, so I was super excited to be invited to Better Homes and Gardens Throwback Party 🙂 We were asked to come up with an idea of a retro or throwback appetizer recipe and my mind immediately went to my Mini Chicken Cigars. Check out all of  the Vintage Recipes Worth Throwing a Party For HERE!!
These Mini Chicken Cigars are a classic favorite that I have been making friends and family for years! Always a crowd pleaser, I have made them for all different occasions, from a simple family dinner to bridal and baby showers. They are super easy and can be made ahead of time so you can enjoy your time with your guests. I think that they look pretty impressive for how easy they are 😉
All they are is ground white meat chicken that is spiced up with a bunch of smoky spices and cilantro rolled up in phyllo dough and baked until golden brown. While the mini chicken cigars are baking, just whip up the Sweet and Sour Pineapple Dipping Sauce. They are pretty versatile too. If you don’t like a certain spice, don’t use it. If you don’t like that much spice (we love lots of flavor and spice in our world and I know it can be a little much for some), use less spice. Hate cilantro? Use parsley or another herb you like better. I’m thinking of chives, maybe rosemary or basil… If pineapple isn’t your jam, then swap it out for another fruit that you like better 🙂 We can handle this right? Believe me, if I can do it…you can do it and be on your way to impressing your guest in no time!!
The reason for this throwback party is that Better Homes and Gardens has a super fun new magazine called Get Together! It will be your summer party planning resource (I know I have been loving mine). It has party ideas like a Backyard Movie Night, Low Country Boil and A Tomato Tasting Party! With all the different tomato varieties that I have planted in my garden, I know I will be doing the A Tomato Tasting Party as soon as they start to come in 😉 Each party includes various recipes, DIY decorating ideas and other entertaining tips!! It even tackles party math – you know how much food and drinks that you will need for the number of people that you are serving. The Get Together! magazine is on newsstands now or can be purchased online HERE.
Better Homes and Gardens is also offering  free vintage recipe cards that you can download and use for any of your summer entertaining or for writing down my recipe for Mini Chicken Cigars 😉
So let’s have a throwback party…here is your recipe for Mini Chicken Cigars with Sweet and Sour Pineapple Dipping Sauce:
- 1½ pounds ground white meat chicken breast
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flake
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves, a handful
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper
- 12 sheets phyllo dough
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil Spray
- 2 tablespoons sweet plum sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup finely diced pineapple
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Take phyllo dough out of the freezer and let come to room temperature before using, about 2 hours
- Place a sheet of aluminum foil on the baking sheet to make cleanup a breeze later.
- Place chicken in a medium mixing bowl and mix with spices and cilantro.
- Place a sheet of phyllo on cutting board and mist with olive oil.
- Repeat 3 more times, placing each sheet of phyllo over the last misted sheet to make 4 layers. They should stick together from the olive oil to make one thicker sheet.
- Cut phyllo into squares by cutting the long side into four slices and then short side in half, making 8 squares.
- On 1 side of each of the squares, place about 1½ teaspoons of chicken filling. Roll up tightly to make mini "cigars."
- Repeat steps 4-7 until you have used all of the chicken filling.
- Place "cigars" on the prepared sheet pan and mist the tops of each with olive oil. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.
- While the chicken cigars are baking, make the sweet and sour pineapple dipping sauce: Whisk together plum sauce and rice vinegar in a bowl. Stream in oil and continue whisking to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in pineapple.
- Serve cigars with dipping sauce.
Are you planning a party or entertaining this summer? Here are some other snack/appetizers you might like to check out:
- Red Quinoa and Black Bean Sliders with Easy Guacamole Spread
- Cowboy Caviar Salsa
- Cilantro Edamame Hummus
- Loaded Sweet Potato Skins
- Mini Organic Frozen Yogurt Pops with Fresh Fruit
- Or browse all of my appetizers
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Catherine says
Dear Becky, these sound and looks wonderful! What a tasty appetizer or side. xo, Catherine
Kylee from Kylee Cooks says
Hey, these look amazing. I’m planning to make them asap. Question: you really only need 4 sheets of phyllo? making each cigar wrap a single layer of phyllo? Just checking before I do this – phyllo makes me nervous!!!
You know where to find me!
Becky says
Thanks so much Kylee!! Since the phyllo sheets are so thin, I put four of them together so the chicken filling doesn’t bust through. It also makes the cigar more substantial. Let me know how it works out for you 🙂